Fertilizer-distributer.



L. E. HBIFNER.

FERTILIZER DISTRIBUTBR.

APPLICATION FILED 1320.12, 190s.

Patented July 27, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

vwantoz LoaEN E. HEIFNER, or NANKm, omo.

FERTILI ZEE-DISTRIBUTER.

Naezaovl.

Speccation of Letters Patent.

Patented :my 27, 190e.

Application led December 12, 1908. Serial No. 467,136.

To afllgnfom it may concern: p

Be it known thatI I, LonnN E. HEIFNEn, a

citizen of the United States', residing at Nankin, in the county of Ashland and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Im rovemen'ts in' Fertilizer-Distributers, of which the' followingr is av specification., lrelierence being had therein to the accompanying drawings. l

This invention relates to fertilizer distrjbuters7 and more particularly to such a distributer adapted to be' attached .to an agricultural im lement. 1 y

The object o the invention is to vprovide a fertilizer distributer adapted to be attached to an agricultural implement; to provide such a .disti'lbuter which will have its discharge mouth supported in a predetermined relation relatively to the working parte of said imple.- ment; to rovide means actuated by the imple'ment lidi' feeding the fertilizer to the distributer; to so arrangethe discharge mouth of the distributer that the material will be diachar ed close to the ground and close to the see or lant which is to belfertilize'd without the liability of the entrance of dirt or the like into said mouth; to rovide means for controlling the discharge o said fertilizer, whereb it may be dischar ed either com tinuous y or at any desired point g to prow'de a distributer adapted to be secured to alcultivater and to ferti1ize-`growin `crops alnd further,to ro'vide such a distn uter which can be read; y attached to agricultural imple-I ments Qfordina construction. Y I n Wi'th these objects in `vieyv my invention consists in certainfnovel,features and .in cer tain combinations and arrangements'pf par'ts hereinafter toV be described, and .then more particularly pointedy out in the, claims. n

bIn the accompaniyingvdrawings, `Figure 1 isa side elevation ol a.cultivato'r embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is areal elevation o the saine; Fig. 3 is a vertical lsectional vieu7 taken centrally of the hopper `and showing ,the feeding mechanism, and F1 s. 4 and 5 are detail views of the bottom of t bevel earlrespectivelf'.

Int 4ese drawings preferred form of my l show nthesame in. combination with ai cultivater, but4 it will beunderstood that thecultivatortis used for pur oses of illustration only and that the dlstrl .atenas relnaftr eeeribed, may be readily adapteA foruse in connection with other agricultural impleoint near the operator.

`two sections teles'crally .conteste e hopper and the have illustrated the' inveptlon anflhave ments, which implementsmay be adapted vto plant the seed or to work the'crop any time aftei` the seed is planted. y M

The cultlvator here sholvvn'isoi ,ordinary construction and comprises a frame l Supl portedlen a U-shaped axle 2`having round Whecls'B j ournaled on the outerrlends `t creol', the frame bem'gl preferably provided at ,a rear end'thereofyvith a seat 4 or the driver.l Cultivati `members 5V are supported from beams 6 11n t e ordinary ,man n er. The Vbearlns lthemselves vare supported from V,the main frame l lin the ordinary Inanner which is such `as to permit th'em to be moved toward or ayvay from the row of plants under cultivation at the will of the `In the present instance I have illustrated the fertilizer' distributer as an attachment, adapted to be attached to or detached from the cultivator as desired,` and, to this end, I have shown a hopper 7 adapted to contain the fertilizer and to be detachably supported on the main frame, preferabl l the same to a base or su porting frame Ei which extends transversdly yto the main frame 1 and is detachablysecured thereto by detachable clips, as Y shown at 9. The'hopper may be supported on this base in any suitable manner, being, in the presentinstauce, rov-ide'gl lwith one or morel vertical standar's or rbraces, `10 extending betwee i the same and lthe Vbase Aand adapted to hold the salme,rigidlyinpesition thereon. A spout 1.1 is, supported. beneath the.. barrer a. d, adapted to receive the fertilizelrthere rom and@ @may massime will@ gropn'fl at' the deaifeflpoisf Thisispeat is, in te@ pre-Sent instance, ,shown asfsnppp'telirgn t per 7 by linlrs or 'arms 'llandlas c the other to ermit,thesameitobe'adjusted vertically. he lower Vportion12h'ol" 1-the Spent, .1'1'1 which the .de here@ mortlrf. formed, is preferably tum at .when .are t0 the Yertal, ortie oftlwspsut-.thatlit will extend m .a substaeillyflmlclza helene: siton land thespout is s o adlpsterltlxahth, dashes@ n10-Inh wel@ t0 t .elinalof wpv'ementpftheultm; t0n tlmwsrmlttine theferbihzar t he fr. wreed-ata, met des@ wipnvenfeneat t .t efiffffffwev t he. l.. ya met .Cre .n meenemen at, Ohafgreftwn alle epm. Tli .;f.liar'rae rmd spout 11 are arrange on the mam frame y by securing .will @anni am ,narrar the s out will occupy the desired liliV of thc cultivator in such relation to the cultivating members that the discharge mouth of position relative y to the row of plants un( er cultiva tion.

In order that the fertilizer may be distributed either continuously along the row of plants oi' at intervals, in order to place the same near the hills of coi-ii only, I prefer to provide the discharge month of the spout with a movable closure, which closure is un der the control of the operator. ln the i'e-s ent instance, I have shown the lioiizonta porvvtion-1 2 of thc spout 11 as provided with a cap 13 which is pivotally mounted on the' portion 1.2 of the spout at 14, and is held nor- Inally in a closed position by means of a curved s ring 15 having one cnd secured to the spouiJ Il and its other end in engagement. with the ,cap 13. A finger 16 extends outwardl from tlic cap 13 and is pivotally connecte at its outer end to a link 177 which, in turn, is rigidly secured to a shaft or rod 18 which is journaled in a horizontal bearing ,19 carried by the lower end of a rod 20 sup iorted from the main frame. The rod 18 is ient upwardly at a point beyond the bcarin 19 and is provided at its upper end with a oet piece 21 by means of w uch the rod 18 may e rotated in its bearing 19 to move the cap 13 Ainto its open position against the tension ofthe spring 15. This foot piece is located within convenient reach of the operator from his seat 4, and, as' the machine moves along the row of plants, the operator will aetuate the rod 18 to open the discharge mouth of the 'spout at the desired intervals, or hernay maintain `the spout o en at all times and thereby distribute the ertilizer continuously While I have described foot-operated means ,for controlling this discharge mouth, it will beep arent t iat the Vdischarge may be controllo in any suitable manner. A

To prevent the fertilizer from packing in the hopper 7 and to cause the same to feed continuousl to the spout l1 I lprefer to provide a suits. le positively driven feed mechanism. To this end I have provided the hopper 7 with a central opening 22 having arranged therein a spider 23, the central portion of which has a bearin aperture 24. A bevel gear 25 is supporte immediately beneaththe bottom of the hopper 7 and is referably formed in the shape of a rin hav- Ymg gear teeth on the Vouter eriphery t ereof and provided with a spi er 26 extending across the central opening therein. An up- Y wardly extending bearing-stud 27 is rigid seeuredlto the central portion of the spider 26 Aand is'fdapted to enter the bearing a er ot- 'l inve fed "cup-shaped member 28 hav-*in an openinv 29 inione side thereof 4is rotaia l`y mounted upon the bearing-stud 27 and has its' circumferential edge in engagement with that portion of the bottom of the hopper 7 immediately surrounding the opening 22 therein. This inverted cup-shaped member may be supported on the bearingstud 27 in any suitable ii'ianner. [n the present instance l have shown the saine as provided with a sleeve 3U and having an opening non-circular in cross section extending' through both the sleeve and the` ad jacent portion of the cup-shaped iiioiiiber. A-pin 31 rigidly secured to the l'ieariiig-stud 27 extends through the non-circular opening' in the cup-shaped iiiciiiber and is provided at a point above the saine with a nut 32, by means oi' which the cup-shaped member 28 is rigidly scoured to the pinion 25 and rotates in unison therewith, An agitator arm 33 is secured to the eu -shapod ineiiiber 28 and rotates in unison t 'ierewith, the agitator bcing ircferably secured to the cup-shaped inem ier by mounting the saine upon the pin 3l between the nut 32 and the cup-shaped member. The hollow gear 25 is provided with a depending base or sleeve 25a adapted to enter the siout and connect theI hopper thereto. The icvel gear 25 may be actuated in any suitable manner, but, in the present instance, I have provided a pinion 34 operativel connected to a shaft 35 which is ]ournale( in suitable bearin s 36 and 37, mounted-on the base 8 and t e main frame 1, respectively. l`he,shaft 35 is provided on its outer end with a sprocket wheel 38. A sprocket wheel 39 is rigidly connected to one of the ground whe'els 3. Ln the present instance this sprocket wheel comprises merel.;r a ring provided with s rocket teeth and is secured to the spokes o the iround wheel by means of clips 40. A spree 'et chain 41 ox tends about the sprocket wheels 39 and 38 and rotates the shaft 35 when the cultivator is in motion.' In order to .place the action of the feed mechanism under the control of the driver I have mounted on the shaft 35 a clutch member 42 adapted to cooperate with the Acorresponding` clutch member 43 carried by the pinion 34,J To this end the pinion 34 is r'otativcl niountedyon the end of the shaft 35 and `t e clutch member 42 slidably mounted on the shaft and hold against rotation relatively thereto, thereby enabling the Aspout lljwill be supported in close proxclose to the row of and that the distriimity to the ground arg1 ilants under cultivatio ution of the Afertilizer may be controlled byn the operator through the medium of they closure for the discharge mouth of the s out in Such a manneras to distribute the 'ertilizer either colitinuously along the row of lants or ali the desired intervals. Further, it will be ap arent that the mechanism here shown may ie readily adapted for use, not only on cultivators, but on agricultural imlements of various characters. It will also e apparent that I have irovided positively driven feed mechanism, by means of which the fertilizer is continuouslyr fed into the dis? charge spout, thereby rendering the. operation of the distributer continuous. lt will also be apparent that the device is in' the form of an attachmenu and can be attached to existing eultivators without any modification in the construction thereof.

I wish it to be understood that l do not desire to be limited to the details of construction shown and described, for obvious modilications will occur to alperson skilled in the art. i'

Having thus fully described my invention, what I e aim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:-

1. The combination, with a cultivaton'of a fertilizer distributer supported on said cultivator and comprising a ho iper, and a spout supported beneath said lio per and ada ted to receive the material therefrom, sai spout havin its lower end turned at an angle to the bo y portion thereof and ege.

'tendin laterally and rearwardly therefrom.

2. 'l ie combination, with a cultivator, of a fertilizer distributer su ported on said cultivator and comprising a iopper, and a spout supported beneath said hopper and adapted to receive the material therefrom, said s v out having its lower end turned at an ang e to the body portion thereof, a closure for the discharge mouth of s id spout, and means for controlling saidl chilsu re.

3. 'The combination, `with a cultivator, of a fertilizer distrilz-uter si'ipirorted on said culti'vator and eoinl'n'isng a hopper, adischarge month there for, and feed mechanism mounted within said hopper, a' bevel gear supported beneath said hopper and operatively connected tons-,aid feed nuehalnsm, said bevel gear having an opening therein, a sleeve carried by said bevel gear and communicating with said opening, a spout supported beneath said sleeve, a shaft supported bv said eultivator, a pinion carried by said shaft and adapted to mesh with said gear, and means for actuating said shaft l'roin one of thei ground wheels of said cultivator1 4. A fertilizer attachment foi agricultural implements comprising a hopper, means for securing said hopper to an implcm'ont, a discharge spout supported beneath said hopper, adapted to receive the material therefrom and having its discharge mouth arranged in proximity to the ground, a closure for said discharge mouth pivotally supported on said spout, a s )ring adapted to retain said closure normally in its closed position, a horizontal shaft rotatably supported near said discharge spout, means for operatively connecting said shaft to said closure, and means under the control of the operator for actuating said shaft to o )en said closure.

ln testimony whereof allix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

ionen E. HEIFNER.

W itnesses WiLLIAM l). MUMMERT, (LOYD M. HEIFNER. 

